The United States has announced a $1.1 billion arms package for Taiwan as the US-China tensions escalate over the status of the island.” This sale comes a month after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defiantly visited the self-governing democracy, prompting mainland China to launch a show of force that could be a trial run for a future invasion.
The package is the largest to be approved for Taiwan under the Biden administration and would still need the approval of Congress. The Pentagon announced the package on Friday in the wake of China’s aggressive military drills around Taiwan.
Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said the possible arms sale “severely jeopardizes” US-China relations, according to AFP and BBC.
“China will resolutely take legitimate and necessary counter-measures in light of the development of the situation,” he said, according to the reports.
President Joe Biden’s administration said the package has been under consideration for some time and was developed in consultation with Taiwan and US lawmakers.
The announcement also comes one day after Taiwanese forces shot down an unidentified commercial drone amid a sudden spate of mysterious incursions that have unnerved the island following the earlier show of force by Beijing, which said it fired ballistic missiles over the capital Taipei.
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China, calling Taiwan an “inalienable” part of its territory, called on the United States to “immediately revoke” the arms sales.
“It sends wrong signals to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and severely jeopardizes China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” said Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington.
“China will resolutely take legitimate and necessary counter-measures in light of the development of the situation,” he said.
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